Mortgage 911

July 10, 2009 – 12:44 pm

By Petya Kirkova

Decreased home value has been the cause of many sleepless nights for millions of Americans, who wanted nothing else but a pretty little house with a white picket fence. Well, in some cases the house is not that little, and the fence is the latest shade of a color you can not even pronounce, but it still is someone’s "home, sweet home."

Nevertheless, the matter of the fact is that too many people are overwhelmed by their mortgage payments, and refinancing directly with their mortgage company is not always an option. Not only you might not qualify, but actually getting somebody to talk to you about your options might be much harder than you have anticipated.

Fortunately, there is an alternative called Making Home Affordable, a refinance program introduced by the Obama Administration, which commits $75 billion in effort to prevent as many avoidable foreclosures as possible by loan modification or refinancing, reducing those unbearable monthly payments. The deal comes with a few requirements, but an estimated 3 to 4 million Americans will be eligible to take advantage of the plan according to its official website (http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/index.html). Some of the conditions are loan owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, ownership of one- to four- units home, first mortgage not exceeding 125% of the current market value of the home and regular payments being not more than 30 days late in the last 12 months.

Of course, nobody expects all of us out there to be mortgage and refinance gurus, so for the most current and detailed information on what the plan is about and the way it works, you can head right here -  http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/borrower_qa.pdf.

Most important of all, this government website states very clearly that all the help it offers is free, and there is never a fee to get assistance or information about Making Home Affordable from your lender or a HUD-approved housing counselor. Consulting with a specialist is always a good idea, but at least knowing where to turn for help works only to your advantage.